Absorbent tissue products such as paper towels, facial tissues, bath tissues and other similar products are designed to include several important properties. In particular, such products should have good softness, strength and a high rate of absorbency. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to produce a high strength tissue product that is also soft and highly absorbent. Usually, when steps are taken to increase one property of the product, other characteristics of the product are adversely affected. Consequently, there is always a need to provide tissue products with improved softness while maintaining other functional properties.